The Laws of Finding and Preserving Treasure in Britain

“Napoleon once described Britain as a nation of shopkeepers,” said National Geographic. “If he were alive today, he could turn this into a nation of amateur archaeologists.”

Armed with trowels, boots and metal detectors, “ordinary Brits” are “excavating their island homes in record numbers in search of buried treasure,” according to the magazine.

But while we discover ancient gemstones in “astonishing quantities,” there are strict laws about what we should do with what we find.

Record finds

A 3,000-year-old gold dress clasp found in Staffordshire was among the record finds of 1,384 genuine treasures in 2022, according to the British Museum’s Portable Antiquities Scheme, which tracks archaeological discoveries. It was the ninth consecutive year that more than 1,000 discoveries have been logged became.

Brodie, a 10-year-old boy from Gloucestershire, contributed to this year’s total after discovering a rare, 700-year-old seal just five minutes into his first metal detecting event.

Speaking to BBC’s Newsround, Brodie said he dreams of finding “something really big, like a horse and carriage or something like gold jewelry or Roman swords and hats.” If he discovers more ancient treasures, what he does with them may be regulated by law.

What the law says

There are still “issues with rogue detectors”, including “ongoing reports of ‘nighthawkers’ looting ancient sites after dark”, said The Independent. Police “increased” patrols along Hadrian’s Wall after illegal metal detectors were spotted at work in the area.

Under UK law, any find over 300 years old and containing more than 10% gold or silver must be delivered to a representative of the Portable Antiquities Scheme. The British Museum curators will then examine the object and submit an application to the coroner, who will make the final decision on whether the find meets the legal definition of a treasure.

“If this is the case,” said National Geographic, “the find becomes the property of the Crown and is available to local or national museums for purchase for the public benefit.” An independent appraisal is made and the finder shares the market value fee with the property owner, on whose property the discovery was made.

Penalties for failing to report treasure “can be severe.” Last year two men appeared in court in Durham accused of trying to sell 44 extremely rare silver coins from the reign of Alfred the Great. The coins were part of a “Viking treasure” they had unearthed in Herefordshire years earlier and was said to be worth millions.

Roger Pilling, 75, and Craig Best, 46, were caught in an undercover police operation trying to sell the coins, The Guardian said. The monetary value of the coins was estimated at 766,000 pounds, but instead of a “jackpot payout day,” the men were given five years, National Geographic said. Last year, metal detectorists who stole a trove of Anglo-Saxon treasures worth £3 million were ordered to pay back a collective £1.2 million “immediately”, Mail Online said.

Resentments and jealousies

Almost all discoveries in the UK are made by amateurs. According to the latest figures, only 3% of finds were made by professional archaeologists, which “underlines what a significant contribution the wider public is making to the field of archaeology,” Michael Lewis, head of the British Museum’s treasury and wearable antiquities, told National Geographic .

Although academics may harbor “anger and jealousy” over the successes of amateurs, their displeasure is “tempered” by the fact that almost all of their finds would never turn up in an archaeological dig. “Most of these finds are made on cultivated land,” Lewis said. “If the metal detectors didn’t find them, they would simply fall victim to plowing.”